Will FIFA Expand The World Cup To 64 Teams? Here's What Gianni Infantino Said

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed that football's global governing body will examine the possibility of expanding the men's FIFA World Cup to 64 teams following the conclusion of the 2026 edition, saying the idea will be discussed by the organisation's relevant committees.

The 2026 World Cup, being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is the first edition to feature 48 teams after the tournament was expanded from 32 nations. However, FIFA is now prepared to evaluate whether another increase could be introduced as early as the 2030 World Cup.

Speaking to Swiss media outlet Bluewin, Infantino said the governing body would review the proposal after assessing the success of the ongoing tournament.

"That's definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup," Infantino said."When organising a World Cup, it's important to organise it for the whole world – not just Europe and South America – but effectively the entire world."

The FIFA chief stressed that expanding the tournament would give more countries an opportunity to compete on football's biggest stage, which he believes would help accelerate the sport's development globally.

"Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high – and it's getting higher and higher all over the world. If you don't give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they'll lack the incentive to keep improving."

Infantino also described the expanded 48-team format as a success, pointing to the competitiveness displayed by nations from every confederation during the 2026 tournament.

"Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point," he said."Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage. At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa. That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams – to give them this opportunity to participate."

The idea of a 64-team World Cup first gained momentum in March 2025 when South American football confederation CONMEBOL proposed expanding the centenary edition of the tournament in 2030. Later that year, Infantino met CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez, along with the presidents of the football associations of Argentina and Uruguay and the presidents of Paraguay and Uruguay, in New York to discuss the proposal.

At the time, Domínguez backed the expansion, saying:

"We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup. We want to call for unity, creativity and believing big. Because when football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global."

Despite support from South America, the proposal has faced resistance from other football leaders. Concacaf president Victor Montagliani told ESPN in April 2025 that he did not believe a further expansion would benefit either the tournament or the wider football calendar.

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has also publicly criticised the proposal, previously calling a 64-team World Cup "a bad idea."

If FIFA eventually approves the expansion, the World Cup would grow to 128 matches, double the number played under the 32-team format used between 1998 and 2022, and significantly more than the 104 matches scheduled for the current 48-team tournament.

The 2030 FIFA World Cup will already be historic as it marks the competition's centenary. Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay are each set to host one opening match before the tournament moves to its main hosts, Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

A larger 64-team field could allow the three South American nations to stage full group-stage fixtures instead of hosting just one match each.